Medical personnel bring a wounded man on a stretcher for treatment after two explosions outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021 ( AFP / Wakil Kohsar)

AFP image misrepresented as photo of Kabul blast

This article is more than one year old.
Published on August 26, 2021 at 18:52
Updated on August 27, 2021 at 20:27
1 min read
By AFP USA

Social media posts about a deadly attack outside Kabul airport on August 26, 2021 feature a photo of a cloud of dust rising near the tarmac. But the image is an AFP photo from 10 days earlier, and the photographer who took it said the dust was from a helicopter, not an explosion.

"BREAKING: EXPLOSION OUTSIDE KABUL AIRPORT," says an August 26 Facebook post that includes the image.

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken on August 26, 2021

Posts misrepresenting the photo are part of a series of inaccurate claims about Afghanistan that have spread across the internet after Taliban insurgents seized control of the country earlier this month.

A suicide bomber targeted people gathered outside the airport, killing dozens of people. The photo circulating in the posts, however, shows a different scene.

AFP photographer Wakil Kohsar said the cloud of dust in the photo -- which shows American soldiers standing guard as Afghans wait at the airport on August 16 -- was stirred up by a US military helicopter.

US soldiers stand guard as Afghans wait at the Kabul airport on August 16, 2021 ( AFP / Wakil Kohsar)

The United States and other western countries are rushing to evacuate their citizens as well as Afghan allies ahead of an August 31 deadline. According to a US general, more than 110,000 people have been airlifted out of Afghanistan since August 14.

August 27, 2021 This article was updated to add new information from a US general.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail

AFP image misrepresented as photo of Kabul blast

YouTube